This is an opinion editorial from the office of Jeff Prang, Los Angeles County Assessor.
It’s that time of year again when my Office undertakes its most important function of the fiscal year that lays the ground work for the very property taxes that pay for our vital public services: The Assessment Roll. In fact, it’s a Constitutional mandate.
The Roll for 2023 has been closed as of June 30 and it reflects growth for Signal Hill as well as the rest of the County.
First off, let me say this comprehensive tally values more than 2.5 million real estate parcels in Los Angeles County and results in the very tax dollars that goes to pay for vital public services, such as healthcare, police, fire, schools, and even librarians, to name just a few. As I mentioned, I am constitutionally mandated to close the Roll by the end of the Fiscal Year on June 30. As a point of reference, my Fiscal Year runs from July 1 to June 30.
I am pleased to announce that the 2023 Assessment Roll has a total net value of $1.997 trillion, indicating the 13th year of consecutive growth. The 2023 Roll also grew by $111 billion (or 5.91%) over 2022. That value places nearly $20 billion to be used for those public services I just mentioned.
Locally, Signal Hill for 2023 came in at $3.28 billion for taxable values, which is a 6.7% increase over last year’s numbers. That includes 2,775 single-family homes, 583 apartment complexes, 1,063 commercial-industrial parcels for a grand total of 4,421 taxable properties. Yes, it’s a solid growth at $3.28 billion.
Some basics: The Roll, as it is known, contains the assessed value of all real estate and business personal property in the county’s 88 cities along with the unincorporated areas. It also breaks down the number of single-family residential homes, apartments and commercial-industrial parcels.
This year’s Roll comprises 2.58 million real estate parcels as well as business assessments countywide. That includes 1,892,564 single-family homes, 250,511 apartment complexes, 248,123 commercial and industrial properties and more than 200,000 business property assessments.
Since the Roll is the inventory for all taxable property in the county, it can provide some insight into the health of the real estate market. The Roll is also driven in large measure by real property sales, which added $67.4 billion to the Roll as compared with 2022; the CPI adjustment mandated by Prop. 13 added an additional $36.7 billion; and new construction added $5.6 billion.
Finally, to say this has been a challenging couple of years is an understatement and the fact that property values continue to grow is certainly good news and testament to the viability of the region. A full list of assessment growth amounts and parcel counts for cities and unincorporated areas is available here.
